China’s economic growth slowed to an annual rate of 6.7percent in the first quarter of 2016, According to China's National Bureau of Statistics.

Though the growth is in line with government’s growth target of 6.5-7 percent, it is the slowest quarterly growth for China since the financial crisis in 2009.

The economy saw an increased foreign exchange reserves for the first time in five months. Property investment was up 6.2 percent, which is its fastest pace in a year, while Fixed-asset investment grew 10.7 percent year-on-year to March.

“This fresh batch of macroeconomic data paints a picture of an economy that has lost some growth momentum but lives to fight another day,” said Eswar Prasad, economics professor at Cornell University and former China head of the IMF.

But not all experts believe the Chinese economy is improving.

“The uptick is not sustainable in the longer-term, but it could last one or two quarters,” Commerzbank economist Zhou Hao told the Wall Street Journal.

“Recent data appears to repudiate the excessively pessimistic views about China’s economy that were rampant in financial markets earlier this year, although there is still plenty of ammunition for pessimists to maintain their negative outlook,” said Eswar Prasad.

The IMF recently revised its forecast of the Chinese economy from 6.3 percent to 6.5 percent, adding that China's growth has the most significant impact on global equity prices.

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